Revenge of the Blood
by JustJustine014
Summary: She promised herself she would never look back, but how could she when the face of the man she never thought she'd have to see again was staring right at her? The face of the man who in her eyes, was just scum. But more than that, it was the face of the man who absolutely terrified her.
1. Chapter 1

It was going to be a good day. It was the last day of school and after this period, summer would be the beginning of Emma's stress free vacation. Being both a ranger and a student had taken its toll, but after today, school would be the least of her worries. Sure she had a couple of summer assignments, but that was nothing compared to the workload she got every day.

After a long and grueling hour and a half, the bell finally rung and Emma rushed to the door, eager to leave. As she walked towards her locker, she saw her best friend waiting there already.

"Hey,' Emma greeted. "How was your last day?"

Gia rolled her eyes. "Extremely boring. We finish all of our exams and testing in May, so I don't get why we have to wait until June to get out of here.

"Tell me about it." Emma chuckled. She grabbed her remaining items and walked out. Gia and Emma weren't one to hate school. They were good students, great even. Straight A's were no stranger to their report cards and when one struggled, the other usually helped out. Their ranger jobs may have caused their grades to dip a little, but they still retained their A average.

Gia and Emma walked out and saw the guys waiting for them. None of them dared to eat the school's lunch food. No one knew what was actually in it, but they did know that your tooth shouldn't crack when you bite into a burger. Poor Johnny Davidson made that mistake on the first day and had to go to the dentist immediately. This was exactly why they were going to go grab a bite from anywhere that wasn't school.

"So where to?" Jake asked. He gently took Gia's bag and wrapped his arm around her lovingly. She gave him a small smile in return.

"There's a diner a couple of blocks away. We could go there?" Noah suggested. "My parents and I went a couple of week ago. It was pretty good."

"Sounds good to me." Troy said. Everyone else nodded in agreement. "Lead the way Noah."

Once the server sat them at a table, they talked about their last day of school and summer plans. During the school year, the five of them had gotten significantly closer; they were no longer just teammates. As time passed, they found themselves hanging out more and more, especially since Gia and Jake began dating. There would be many instances where Gia would get the opportunity to hang out with Jake and his best friend. It was the same for Jake with Emma. Troy would occasionally tag along, and before they knew it, their friendship morphed into a family.

Just as the group finished placing their order, a familiar beep went off.

"Ugh," Jake groaned. He grabbed his stomach sadly. "Can't this wait? I haven't eaten anything all day."

"Jake!" she slapped her boyfriend on the shoulder.

"Ow! What?" he rubbed his shoulder. "I'm hungry! Plus we already ordered the food! We can't just leave it!

"Yeah, you're right." Emma got up from her seat and pat Jake's shoulder. "Which is why you're paying."

Emma smirked as she raced out the diner with an exasperated Jake glaring at her. Troy and Noah were behind her tail, neither wanting to take the bill. Jake turned to the seat where Gia was supposed to be, but she was gone as well.

"Oh come on!"

-Revenge of the Blood-

The battle was tough, but at the end of the day, the rangers won. Like every other fight, it left a substantial amount of damage. They always tried to take it outside of the city, but this time, the monster attacked right in the heart of it. Several buildings were destroyed, roads were split open, and cars were smashed. As much as they wanted to keep everyone safe, the damage was inevitable.

Gia's parents were out of the city for the weekend, so the rangers decided to gather there. It was the perfect hideout for them to reconvene and recover. None of them had serious injuries, but a few cuts and bruises were always common.

As Emma searched for the first aid kit, Troy and Noah made themselves comfortable in the living room while Jake raided the kitchen. He grabbed the first thing he saw and dumped it in a bowl. In his own words, Jake was starving. None of them got a chance to eat earlier. He would eat anything, even if it just was a simple bowl of cereal. On the way back to the couch, he took the remote and turned the TV on.

"Hey look!" Jake turned up the volume. "It's us!"

The Power Rangers making news headlines was really no news. Ever since they appeared, several media outlets would focus all their resources on them. There was something about superheroes that the city couldn't get enough of. Action figures were sold in their name, games were made, and posters of them were plastered around the rooms of children. This time, the TV station was dedicated to their latest battle.

" _And though the rangers saved the day, several buildings were demolished, one of which included the Harwood County Prison. Guards were able to initiate a lockdown, but twelve inmates in the north wing were able to escape. Seven of them have been apprehended, but five still remain free. If you have any information on where these fugitives may be, please call the city police. We assume that these escapees are dangerous, so please be cautious"_

Pictures of the escaped inmates flashed on the screen. At first, no one really paid attention. It was the police's job to handle situations like these. But then Gia recognized a face. She snatched the remote from Jake, rewinded the TV, then paused it.

"Hey!"

"Shut up and look!" She pointed to the screen. If they weren't paying attention before, they definitely were now. Tension filled the air as a particular face and name stuck out.

"I found the first aid kit!" Emma called from upstairs. She went straight to the kitchen, skipping over the TV in favor of food. Like Jake, she was hungry as well. She set the first aid kit down and opened up the fridge. "There's some leftover spaghetti in here. I'm gonna warm up some for myself, does anyone else want some?"

There was no response. Confused, she walked out of the kitchen and found the group in the living room. "Guys?"

She turned to what seemed to be stealing their attention and froze.

Everyone looked at Emma nervously, unsure of how she would react. They then cast worried glances to another one. No one knew what to do. Gia took a small step forward.

"Em…"

Emma shook her head and backed away. Her eyes never left the TV screen. She silently walked into the living room, grabbing the remote in the process. She unpaused the TV and listened to what came next. The reporter repeated the names of the escapees, giving off a description as well as a picture.

" _And our last escapee, Marc Goodall….."_

There it was. That was all she needed to hear. Marc Goodall. The source of her pain for the past five years. This was supposed to be behind her. She promised herself she would never look back, but how could she when the face of the man she never thought she'd have to see again was staring right at her? The face of the man who in her eyes, was just scum. But more than that, it was the face of the man who absolutely terrified her.

It was not going to be a good day.

 **A/N: Hey there! I know it's been an EXTREMELY long time since I've posted anything new, but I was recently inspired by a new friend to continue this. I don't know how often I'll be updating, but do know that when I start something, I always finish it. I'd love to hear from you guys, but if not, that's okay too! Thanks for coming across this story! Until next time! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Gia's parents rushed home after they heard the news. Emma wasn't their daughter, but that was just a technicality. They fed her, gave her a place to stay, and most importantly, they loved her. She may not have been one of their own by blood, but she was still family. Emma and Gia would always be their girls.

After their return, Emma was asked to be put under the protection of the police. Emma didn't want it. She didn't need a babysitter, someone to stalk and constantly remind her of her father. However, after days of nonstop coaxing from both her team and Gia's parents, she finally agreed to it. They had to compromise though. Instead of sitting in a police station all day, an officer was assigned to accompany her at all times.

Now, Emma was sitting at home, forced to wait for the officer before she could go anywhere. She was supposed to meet everyone at Ernie's. Not wanting Gia to be alone in all this craziness, Matt went with her while Jennifer opted to stay with Emma.

It had already been days and the police still didn't have any leads on her father. She didn't know how to feel. She was petrified, but not for the reason most people thought. Mr. Goodall was crazy, but he wasn't stupid. It's how he kept his control over her for so many years. He knew how to get to her. He had done so almost a year ago. By threatening and nearly killing Gia and Troy, he almost won. He was so close.

"Here," Jennifer placed a plate of food down in front of Emma. "Eat something."

Emma pushed the food away and shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

"You haven't eaten anything all day. Or yesterday."

"I don't want to eat."

"Just one bite?" This time Jennifer was met with no response. She sighed and took away her plate. If there one thing she knew about Emma, it was that she could be stubborn. This was a battle she couldn't win quite yet. After putting the dish in the sink, the doorbell went off. Jennifer opened the door and found herself face to face with a brunette woman in uniform. She looked relatively young, no older than thirty.

"Hello Officer…?" Jennifer stepped aside, welcoming the new guest.

"Danvers." she smiled warmly and walked inside. "You're welcome to call me Alyssa though. You have a lovely home."

"Thank you. Is there anything I can get for you then, Alyssa?"

"No thank you Ma'am." Alyssa walked to the couch Emma was sitting on. "Hey there, you must be Emma?"

Emma simply nodded.

"My name is Alyssa Danvers." she continued. "I'll be here to…"

"I know why you're here. You don't need to state the obvious." Emma glared.

"Emma!"

"No no, it's fine." Alyssa continued to smile. This wasn't her first rodeo with stubborn teenagers. "Look, I know you don't know me and I don't know you, but whether you believe it or not, I just want to keep you safe."

"Exactly! You don't know me, and you don't know my father. You don't know what he's capable of."

"Then tell me. Help me help you." Alyssa tried to move closer, but Emma scooted away.

"Like how your cop friends helped me?" Emma scoffed. "You guys help me because it's what pays your bills. After I got out of the hospital, all they did was question me. Once they were done, they dumped me like I was nothing. Just like my dad."

Hearing this, Jennifer stopped what she was doing and tried to walk over. Alyssa shook her head, signaling her to stop. She needed Emma to trust her. That wasn't going to happen if she didn't open up.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but lucky for you, I'm not a regular cop."

This peaked Emma's interest slightly. "What do you mean?"

"You don't know me. You don't trust me and you don't trust cops. With all the crazy things going on in this world, I don't blame you. I get it. But I promise you can trust me." Alyssa removed her badge from her belt and handed it to Emma. "You know about the Power Rangers right?"

Emma's heart skipped a beat. There was no way this lady knew about her identity. She managed to stammer out a response. "Y-Yeah, what about them?"

"How about the ones from Silver Hills?"

"I was barely a toddler when they were around."

"But you trust the Power Rangers?"

"They save lives." Emma shrugged her shoulders, silently sighing a breath of relief at the same time.

"Well, I pretty much work for a Power Ranger."

"You work for the Silver Guardians?" Emma looked down at Alyssa's badge. Everyone knew about the Silver Guardians once Time Force's former rangers became in charge of it. They became the talk of the town, but like all other news, everyone got used to it and it eventually died down. "What're you doing all the way out here then?"

"I'm a Silver Guardian. I do this job because I care. Like you said, some people take this as a paycheck, but for me, it's my calling. I took this case because I want to help."

"Tell me something personal about yourself." Emma said.

"What?"

"You want me to talk to you about something personal, but trust works both ways right?"

"Right." Alyssa nodded and gave off a soft sigh. "When I was in college, my father was presumed dead. Like me, he was a cop, but they never found his body. He pursued a case one day and never came back the next. We buried an empty coffin."

One look into Alyssa's eyes and she could tell that it was the truth. She was being genuine, her emotion raw. And she did seem different. The cops from before wouldn't have reached out like this. There was no reason to not trust her.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"It's okay, it was a long time ago and I had a really good set of friends to help me through it."

"Alright," Emma nodded, changing the subject back. "I'm assuming you at least know what my father did to be put into jail?"

"Of course. The case file said that the son of a bitch thought he could get away with hurting his daughter and her friends."

"Yeah, well that case file is a bit of an understatement. Once my mom died, he turned to alcohol, drugs, or pretty much anything to fill the high. He blamed me for my mom's death and that became the beginning of me becoming his new punching dummy."

"Why didn't you ever tell anyone? I'm sure the bruises would've spoke enough for itself."

Emma looked down at her hands sadly. It was never easy talking about her past. There were so many painful memories. "He knew how to keep my mouth shut. I-I was so lonely. I was always the environment girl who stood out in class. When I was younger, I would rather learn about bugs and the water cycle than play with dolls. No one liked me. But it didn't matter because I had Gia. She understood me like no one else and my dad knew that. He would threaten their family and back it up by beating me into submission. He said he would hurt them like they hurt me." A tear rolled down her cheek. "I had no choice. I had to keep quiet to keep them safe. I couldn't lose the only ones I loved."

Alyssa clenched her fists tightly. No father should have dared to lay their hand on their child. To think that this poor girl had to suffer like that for years made Alyssa's stomach turn. She had no one to turn to.

"When my friend found out," Emma continued. "That became the last straw for my dad. He kidnapped him, locked me in the basement, and probably planned to kill us. I had to use the glass he threw at me to cut through the ropes and free Troy. Gia showed up then there was this big fight, a gun, and boom, I was in the hospital while my dad went to prison."

Without saying a word, Alyssa gave the young girl a hug. She had a younger sister of her own and just the thought of having her go through something like that made her sick. If she found out someone hurt her sister, they wouldn't have lived to see another day.

"We'll find him, I promise."

It felt good being able to talk to someone else. She would always be grateful to Gia and her family, but knowing that she could trust someone outside her normal circle gave her comfort. Emma wiped her tears and gave off a small chuckle. "You're not supposed to make promises like that."

"Like I said, I'm not like other cops." Alyssa smirked. "I make promises I know I can keep. Plus I like you. You have a good heart and quite a bit of spunk."

"Sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to be so stand-offish."

"Don't mention it. I would've done the same thing if I was in your positon. You know, you remind me a lot of myself." Alyssa stood up from the couch and grabbed her belongings. "Now, where to? Seems like you've been cooped up here for long enough."

"Do you know where Ernie's is?"

"I love Ernie's!" Alyssa smiled.

"My friends are there, is it okay if we meet them?"

"Of course! Get in the car kiddo."

The car ride was short since the Moran household wasn't too far from the mall. As they got closer though, something seemed off. An unusual amount of police cars were parked outside. Ambulance sirens were nearing and a large group of people were gathered outside a store. Alyssa and Emma managed to push themselves through the crowd until they could see what was happening for themselves. What both Alyssa and Emma didn't expect though was the ruins of Ernie's. Shards of glass were scattered across the floor and bullets decorated the walls. It didn't take much effort to figure out what happened.

Alyssa held Emma's hand for comfort, but was forcefully shoved away. Emma sprinted towards the store. She heard her name being called, but it didn't matter. She had to see. She had to see what happened. She needed to know if her friends were okay.

As she searched, she saw a couple of people who were understandably frightened. They were shaking in fear, but appeared unharmed. There was still no sight of her friends. Emma kept looking and looking until she found a note with handwriting that was all too familiar. She glanced around and when no one was looking, Emma stuffed the piece of paper into her pocket.

"Hey! You can't be in here!" An officer grabbed her roughly and dragged her out.

"Let go of me!" Emma screamed.

"Witnesses say that at least five people were taken. I got better things to do than this." The cop replied while strengthening his grip on Emma. "Now get out of here kid!

"Lay off!" Alyssa flashed her badge and gently took Emma away from the man. "They'll be okay."

"No," Emma growled, tightening her grip on the piece of paper. "They won't."

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! If you have anything you'd like to say, I'd love to hear from you! Until next time! :)**

 **Love and Appreciate ya!**


	3. Chapter 3

Alyssa had dragged Emma who kicked and screamed all the way back to the car. She knew it wouldn't earn her any brownie points, but Emma's safety was her number one priority. She put on her seatbelt and that's when something clicked.

"Shit, Emma. Is Gia's mom still home?"

"We have to go back!" Emma pleaded, ignoring Alyssa's question completely. She was obviously in a panic and wasn't thinking clearly.

"Emma…"

"Now!"

"We can't just…"

"He has them!"

"Emma!" Alyssa had to raise her voice. "Listen to me! Cameras were shot out. Hostages barely got a look at the guy's face. We have no clear picture of whoever took your friends. All we know is the captor is tall, middle-aged man."

"Oh come on," Emma scoffed. "It's obvious my father took them."

"I know." Alyssa agreed. Based on the reports, five people were missing. Emma said that four of her friends were there plus Mr. Moran. That was a total of five. That couldn't have been a coincidence. It wasn't unusual for someone to take revenge by taking someone else's loved ones. It was one of the best tactics to gain leverage.

Emma furrowed her brow in confusion. "Then why…?"

"The police have no solid evidence to prove it's your father. For all they know, it's just another hostage situation and they're waiting for the captor to demand their ransom. It'll take them hours to go through what evidence they have. Going back there will do nothing for you. "

"We have to do something!"

"We are." Alyssa stepped on the gas, turning on her police sirens at the same time. She had to make this quick.

"What're we doing here?" Emma recognized Gia's neighborhood and it finally clicked. There was only person Marc needed left. "Oh god…"

Alyssa's car screeched onto the driveway. She pulled out her service weapon and inched towards the door with Emma right behind her. Emma's heart dropped at the sight. The door was wide open. They quietly moved into the living room where there were signs of a struggle. The table was flipped, pillows were scattered everywhere, and several of the smaller decorations were broken.

"We're too late." Once Alyssa cleared the rest of the house, she looked around for something to give her a clue.

"This is my fault. I left her alone and now he's got Jennifer." Emma dropped on the couch and ran her fingers through her hair. "He's taking them because of me."

"He's taking them because he a freaking psychopath."

"I have to stop this." Emma stood up, but Alyssa grabbed her arm.

"Woah, hold on. What do you mean by stop this?"

"My father, he… he left me this note." she took out a piece of paper from her jacket and showed it to Alyssa. She looked at it curiously and read it aloud.

"Meet at the place where this all began?"

"The warehouse across the street where my mom and I got into an accident. It's where my mother died. I know he's there, he has to be. Now turn it around."

Alyssa did what she was told and read the back. Her eyes widened.

 _One hour. Bring anyone else and they're dead._

"Did you get this at the ice cream shop?" Emma solemnly nodded.

"Emma, that was twenty minutes ago!" Alyssa started pacing, scrambling to figure out their next move. These situations were discussed in the academy, but nothing could truly prepare them until they faced it themselves. There's was never one set answer. Things like these went way beyond questions on a paper.

"Okay, okay. We can use the paper you have as evidence. There's gotta be something on it that we can use to convince to police. Fingerprints, handwriting comparisons, something!"

"Great, you're here! You're the police and convinced. Problem solved. Now I'm going whether or not you'll be behind me!"

Emma was growing impatient knowing that she barely had a little over half an hour. She made her way towards the door and just as she opened it, she felt a hand stop her. She was about to pull free when something snapped onto her wrist. "What the hell?"

"Just listen to me. It's only the two of us! We have a risky hostage situation and what? The two of us are just going to swarm in?

"Let me go!" She pulled on the handcuff that was now attached to Alyssa's own wrist. "I swear to god Alyssa, you can arrest me afterwards because I will drag you out this door with me!"

Alyssa shook her head, standing her ground firmly. "We need to be a team and we need a plan. We don't know what we'll be walking into."

"You don't understand! I can't lose them! I don't care what happens to me. I just want them safe. They don't deserve this."

"And you do? This isn't a matter of whose fault this is Emma! You didn't do anything! You're not the one to blame!"

"I know!" Emma took a deep breath and sighed. Arguing was getting them nowhere. It was wasting time she didn't have. "I accepted that a long time ago. But I'm also not going to just sit here while I know my family is in trouble. I'm not the helpless little girl I was five years ago."

"Look kid, I know exactly how you feel. I would sacrifice everything for my little sister. My mother and her are all I have left and there's nothing I wouldn't do to make sure they're safe. But not before exhausting every other method."

Emma glanced at the clock across the room. "We're running out of time."

"Which is why you need to listen to me very closely…"

-Revenge of the Blood-

Mrs. Moran grabbed her head in pain as she woke up. She remembered a strange masked man breaking into her living room and trying to fight him off. She remembered receiving several painful blows. Then nothing. Nothing but darkness. She slowly sat up, immediately alarmed when she saw both her husband and daughter blindfolded and lying on the floor. Jennifer saw Emma's friends off to the side in similar conditions except they were gagged and tied to a support beam. They looked at her with worry, trying as hard as they could to escape their bonds. That didn't matter to Jennifer though. Her eyes were locked onto her husband and daughter. The only thing keeping her sane was the fact that she could see their chests rising.

"Hmph, you're awake." Jennifer's vision was still coming together, but she recognized that voice. The same voice of her husband's former best friend. He walked up to Mr. Moran and Gia with a smirk, kicking their bodies in the process. "And to think you guys used to be my family."

"Don't touch them!" Jennifer growled.

"I don't think you're in any position to be making any demands." He growled back, landing another solid kick onto Mr. Moran.

"STOP IT!" A voice screamed from the shadows. Thunder roared, rain splattering against the ground. It was the same weather as the night Emma's mom died. A day full of angst, darkness, and turmoil. A day that seemed to be repeating itself today.

"Well, well, well." Marc chuckled, grinning evilly. He removed the blindfolds from the rest of the Moran family. "You're right on time."

 **A/N: It's been awhile! Life has just been absolutely crazy, but I'm not going to waste your time and explain why I've been gone haha. Just know that though my updates are spontaneous, I always finish a story that I start! Thanks for reading and have a great day! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

"Let them go."

As if it was on cue, Gia and Mr. Moran began to stir.

"Em…?" Gia mumbled. Her usual sharp mind was filled with haze, unable to focus clearly. She vaguely remembered Mr. Moran forcing her and her father to take…what were they called? Mugs? Slugs? Drugs? Drugs. Drugs sounded right. Sleeping pills maybe?

Memories slowly started to come back. Mr. Moran entering Ernie's. Him holding innocent customers at gunpoint if her father and friends didn't come with him. Forcing her father and herself to take the pills or else he'd shoot her friends. Gia kept blinking, attempting to get the blurriness to go away. Sounds were still muffled and she could barely make out the human shaped blob as Emma.

"You don't have to do this Marc." Mr. Goodall said somewhat slurry, but fully aware of the situation. He slowly went up into a seated position and did his best to glare at his former friend.

"Shut up! You were supposed to be there for me Matt! I was your best friend for years before you decided to trade me for that stupid daughter of mine. She came along and ruined everything!"

"If you got your head out of your ass, you'd realize that the only person who ruined lives was you!" Frustrated, Marc pointed the gun at Matt and clicked it. That didn't stop Mr. Moran's determination though.

"Look," Emma put herself in front of the gun, effectively blocking Gia and Mr. Moran before the situation got worse. "This is between you and me. Let them go and you can do whatever you want with me."

Marc smirked. In a move that surprised both Emma and the Morans, Marc put his weapon down and slowly walked towards the Morans. He bent down, appearing to untie their bonds, but swiftly turned to fire a shot.

Emma dropped to the floor and held her now bleeding shoulder in pain.

"Emma!" Mr. Moran and Gia yelled. They tried to make their way to her but was stopped by Marc.

"Ah, ah ah." He pointed his gun, signaling for them to stay still. He walked back towards Emma and kneeled. "Make a choice."

"What?" Emma seethed through her mouth. The pain was excruciating. Fire spread through arm and she could feel herself getting weaker as the blood loss grew. It wasn't deadly but that didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell.

"Make a choice. Decide on who gets to live. The father wannabe or your pathetic friend." He slowly inched towards the Morans, holding up his gun while doing so. "Make a choice like how you chose to kill my wife. Your own mother!"

"I didn't make a choice!"

"You could've done more, but you didn't!"

"I did what I could! I wanted her to live with us forever! Why don't you get that?" With sheer will, Emma forced herself up, holding her bleeding shoulder with eyes of fury. "Did you even know?"

"Know what?" Marc glanced behind him, still keeping his weapon up though.

"That she was dying."

Marc turned around with shocked eyes before hardening them once more. "You're lying."

"She wrote a letter to me before she died. I found it in her old yearbook. She admitted that she was sick. Cancer to be exact. It was terminal, so she would've died no matter what." Emma choked a bit on that last part but had to remain strong. This wasn't a time to show weakness. She had to save her family.

"No," Marc took a step back, sorrow evident his eyes. He shook his head in disbelief. "She would've told me. You're… you're lying!"

"I have no reason to lie."

"Shut up!" He fired a warning shot on the ground. "You ruined my life!" With his back facing Emma, Marc kept his pistol trained on the Morans, occasionally going back and forth between the two. "Now I'm going to ruin yours. Take your pick Emma."

"Three…"

"Don't do this!"

"Two…"

"Stop it!"

"MAKE A DECISION!"

"I won't!" Emma shook her head. Quickly but silently, she inched her way towards her father. Luckily his eyes were locked onto Gia and Mr. Moran and didn't notice her getting closer and closer. "I can't!"

"One.."

"Gia honey, close your eyes." Mr. Moran said as he closed his own.

"You lose." Marc cocked his gun and aimed at one of the Morans. His finger pulled the trigger and a shivering shot ripped throughout the warehouse.

Gia immediately opened her eyes and inspected herself. She felt fine. Well, physically. Then, her head snapped up in realization. If the bullet didn't hit her then…

"Dad!" She frantically looked over her father, but their eyes met in confusion. They both seemed to be fine and neither of them were wearing a brand new bullet hole.

"NO!" Jennifer screamed. For the first time, Matt and Gia noticed that Jennifer had been bounded off to the side, silently forced to witness everything. There were tears flooding her face and she was trying her hardest to escape the ropes. At first, they thought she had just been worried sick, but her eyes weren't trained on them at all. Her eyes were looking at something else; they were looking at the brown haired blood stained body collapsing onto the floor.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Even when injured, Emma managed to place herself in front of the gun and took the bullet to the stomach. Unable to make a choice on who to save, she traded their lives for her own. Gia could only watch in horror as blood began to pool around her torso. Without hesitating, she forced her way towards her best friend and attempted to slow the bleeding. It was no use. The blood went right through her fingers and her once white blouse was an eerie crimson. She looked at her scarlet stained hands in horror, fear evident.

"Emma, you can't do this to me." She shook her best friend, but there was no response. No movement. Not even a gasp of breath. She was completely limp.

"Hmph," Marc inspected Emma carefully. "Not what I imagined, but I guess that'll do."

"I'm gonna fucking kill you Marc!" Mr. Moran yelled. He thrashed in his ropes, pulling, twisting, biting. Anything to help set himself free. "You hear me? You're dead!"

"Hmm," Marc completely ignored the Morans and looked at Emma's body. "Yup, definitely dead with all that blood loss."

"Get away from her you monster!" Gia screamed, tears brimming her eyes. She placed herself over Emma and clung to her. The world didn't just need the pink ranger; the world needed Emma. The world needed the girl whose deep love for nature transferred towards the works she did to save it. All the protests and hours spent maintaining wildlife now wasted. Everything was lost. And that's when it hit her. Gia wouldn't have her best friend anymore. The person who was supposed to be by her side for the rest of her life. The one person who she could trust anything and everything to. Her sister.


	5. Chapter 5

Marc took one last sly glance at his work before turning around. He had got what he wanted. Though he wanted his daughter to suffer longer, the fact that she was dead and the Morans were in pain satisfied him. He could see the conflict in Emma's eyes before her demise and that was more than enough.

There was no reason to stay, so he walked off to go anywhere but here. To let them suffer like he did. He could hear the empty threats being yelled behind him, but it didn't matter. He had got what he had wanted. He had won.

Or so he thought.

Just before he could reach the exit, the glass ceiling from the warehouse suddenly shattered. From the skylight, several agents in uniform stormed into the building and surrounded the murderer.

"Freeze!" In an instant, Marc was stopped by a small team of Silver Guardians led none other by Alyssa Danvers. They all had their weapons trained on him with their red dot lasers painting his body.

Alyssa took a step forward. "Put your weapon down or we will shoot."

Marc shrugged his shoulders and smirked. "Doesn't matter anymore. My work here is done." With nowhere else to go, he dropped his gun and kneeled, placing his hands behind his head. Alyssa signaled for one of the agents to restrain him while she checked on Emma.

"It won't matter." Marc called as he was led to the car. "She's dead."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Alyssa smirked after seeing the confused look on Marc's face. She signaled the officer to close the door and approached the supposedly deceased girl. Gia refused to let her any closer and continued to cling to Emma's body.

"Hey, Gia right?" Alyssa put a comforting hand on her back. She gently grabbed Gia's arms and pulled her away from her body. Tears stained the poor girl's face.

"Why didn't you come sooner?" Gia whispered.

"If you would just let me explain…" Alyssa tried to reason, but Gia wasn't having it.

"She's dead!" Gia growled. "She's dead because you guys couldn't do your fucking job and come here on time."

"Gia…" A voice called out.

"You're supposed to be an elite task, yet you failed!" Gia continued, oblivious to the one calling her name.

"Gia…"

"How could you let a seventeen-year-old girl find us before you did? It shouldn't be her body being carried out of here!" Gia pointed angrily to Marc who was being held inside the police car. "Why does he get to walk out of here alive?"

Before Gia could continue her rant though, a warm body enveloped her into a hug.

"What the…" Gia looked down in disbelief and saw long brown hair. Gia couldn't believe it. She gently backed away to reveal the face of who she thought was her dead best friend. This couldn't be real. She watched her die mere minutes ago. The bullets. The blood. All of it. She…she watched her die.

"I'm okay," Emma said softly. Gia could only stare in shock, absolutely speechless. She grabbed Gia's hand reassuringly and pulled her into another hug. A hug that Gia gladly returned.

The rest of the rangers who were freed by the other agents came running, also in shock of what just happened.

"But how…" Jake started, just as confused as everyone else. He wrapped his arms comfortingly around Gia. They had seen everything but couldn't do a thing. As much as they wanted to help, they were tied tightly to a beam with no wiggle room. The more they moved, the more they risked hurting themselves. They felt helpless. He looked down at Gia sadly and could only imagine the horror she went through.

"We… we thought you were…" Noah stammered. He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Dead." Troy finished, wincing slightly. Saying it out loud only moments after everyone thought Emma was dead didn't feel right. The image of her still body haunted them.

Alyssa chuckled slightly. "Like I was saying, this was all planned out."

"Killing my best friend was part of your grand plan?" Gia asked, arms crossed and clearly not impressed.

"Correction, pretending to kill her was." She moved the neckline of Emma's shirt to show the vest underneath. "Standard Silver Guardian bulletproof vest. We just made a few adjustments to add the whole fake blood thing."

"What the hell is going on?" Mr. Moran asked.

"Yeesh," Emma painfully pushed herself into a seated position and smiled, attempting to lighten up the mood. "You should be more appreciative of the people who saved your lives.

"And what if he shot her anywhere else?" Mr. Moran asked.

"Or decided to pull a knife." Gia added.

"Look," Alyssa sighed. She understood their worry, but the important thing was that everyone was alive and safe. "Emma had to show up or else he would've killed you all. There was no way around that, so before Emma decided to stupidly rush in, we made a plan. Worked pretty well I'd say. We got Emma in safely while I managed to get a strike team together to extract all of you. But unfortunately," She pulled Emma's shirt further to the side and exposed her bloody shoulder. "The vest didn't cover her entire body so we're going to have to take you to a hospital."

"Wait that one was real?" Mrs. Moran rushed over. She was listening to everything from a few feet away as the remaining agents cut her restraints. She inspected Emma's shoulder and wore a look of horror. "You're still bleeding!"

That was enough for Gia who pushed Jake off and looked at the wound herself with her mother. Seeing the bullet lodged into Emma's shoulder, she glared at Alyssa and lunged at her. Troy and Jake immediately leapt into action and held her back.

"Guys, I'm fine." Emma pushed Mrs. Moran away lightly with her good arm.

"You're FINE?!" Gia's eyes nearly popped out of her head. She stopped trying to fight off the boys and looked at Emma. "You had to confront your father, bare the pressure of your loved ones getting kidnapped, got shot in the shoulder, and all you have to say is that you're fine?!"

"So me being emotionally stable is a bad thing?" Emma questioned with a smirk. Mrs. Moran shook her head and glared at Alyssa.

"Do you have any idea of the risk you just put a seventeen-year-old girl in!"]

Alyssa shrugged her shoulders and walked away. She wasn't going to convince the overprotective Morans of anything. "Could've been worse."

"She could've been killed!"

Alyssa sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was going nowhere. As Alyssa opened her mouth to defend herself, she heard one of the sweetest sounds she's ever heard. Speeding towards the warehouse was the ambulance she called for Emma. Her frown turned into a breath of relief

"Saved by the siren." she muttered. She knelt down to help Emma up and guided her towards the ambulance. After making sure she was secure, she closed the doors, ready to leave and go back to the office. After this stressful day, she needed to wind down and relax. When she turned around though, she made eye contact with three very angry Morans who didn't seem done chastising her. "Dammit"


End file.
